Apparatus for printing from individual record-plates.



G.L.HENDERSON. APPARATUS FOR PRINTING FROM INDIVIDUAL RECORD PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24, I914. 1,183,456. Patented May16, 1916.

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APPLICATION mm on. 24. 19:4.

1,183,456. Patented May 16, 1916.

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. G. L. HENDERSON APPARATNS .FOR PRINTING FROM INDIVIDUAL RECORD PLATES. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24, I914. 1 1.3%: 56, Patented May 16, 1916.

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. GEORGE LUTHER HENDERSON, (1)15 CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, A S SIG-NOR MON- TAGUE MAILING- MACHINERY 00., OF CHATTAN'OOGA, TENNESSEE, A CORPORATION OF TENNESSEE.

. APPARATUS FOR PRINTING FROM INDIVIDUAL RECORD-PLATES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May to, role.

Application filed October 24, 1914. Serial No. 868,499.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, GEORGE LUTHER HEN? DERSON, citizen of the United States; residing at Chattanooga, Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Printing from Individual Record-Plates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to printing appa ratus employing individual record plates which bear the characters to be printed, said plates being fed to the impression point to cooperate with the impression head in making the impression. y

In the printing of coupon bills used by public utility corporations it is necessary to make impressions of thematter on the record plates at several places on the bill, for instance onthe main part of the bill and on the coupon. That is to say each plate as it goes through the machine will make a plurality of impressions, first at one impression point and then'at another and for this purpose the plates will be spaced apart on the carrier or feed mechanism.

My present inventlon is an improvement upon that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,122,617, December 29,

1914, in the name of U. G. Lee.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a front view of an apparatus embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is'a plan view of a portion of the machine, and, Fig. 3 is an end view of a portion of the machine. Figs. 4 and 5 are views of the record plate. Figs.

6 and 7 are details.

In these drawings, 8. is the table along which the record plates are fed by suitable feed means.

1 is the impression head reciprocated vertically by rods 2 and carrying any desired number of impression heads 3. The record plates f are fed from a pile in the hopper 4 by a shuttle bar 5 carrying spring pressed 0. The lever a; is operated by a link 7: from an arm 7, rock shaft 05, which, in turn, is operated through suitable connections indicated at e from a rock shaft 9 which is operated as shown in Fig. 3 from an arm k and rod 2', connected to the power element of the machine. An inking ribbon, not

shown, is directed lengthwise of the runway,

and over the impression points.

In printing some forms like public service bills, as gas or electric light bills having a coupon attached, it is necessary to print the same data on different parts of the same bill, and therefore the record or printing plates may be spaced apart on the shuttle bar so that one plate will make, say, two or three impressions by being moved into positlon under, say, two or three impression pads in succession, before the next plate is moved under the first one of these impression pads. In other words, it would be nec-. essary to have some of the dogs empty instead of having a plate at each dog. The impression pads are adjustable lengthwise of the impression bar 1, so that they may be set in any vdesired relation to suit the bill or form to be printed on. For getting the proper spacing of the plates on the feeder or shuttle bar, a lifting rod 91 is provided at the hopper 4, which, when raised, will lift the pile of plates in the said hopper, so that the shuttle bar will not engage and feed the lowermost plate, and in this way some of the dogs are left empty. The lifting rod 91 may be operated at every other feeding action of the shuttle bar so that every other dog on said shuttle bar will be empty, or the lifting rod may be so operated that only at every third action or dogs 6 to engage the end edges of the plates v and feed them along the runway in the table to and past the printing points so that they will be printed from and then discharged from the table. This shuttle bar may be reciprocated in any suitable manner.

In the 'particular'construction shown it is operated by a lever a, dotted lines, Fig. 2,

pivoted below the frame at w, and connected by a link I) to the shuttle bar at thepoint fourth action of the shuttle bar will a plate be taken thereby to be fed to the printing point. The lifting rod is normally pressed down by a spring 92, and its roller 93 rests upon a cam 94 having depressions 95, Fig. 6; When the lifting rod is resting in one of these depressions, the lowermost plate of the pile in the hopper l will be in position to be taken and fed by the dog from the hopper toward the impression point, whereas when the lifting rod is supported by the high part or edge of the cam the pile of plates will be held up and the lowermost plate will be missed by the feed dogof the shuttle bar. The cam 94 is on a shaft 96 ,tion, what I which also has a ratchet wheel 97 engaged by a pawl 98 on an arm 99 pivoting about the shaft 96 and operated by a link 100, bell crank 101, and link 102. from the reciprocating rod 2. When the link is connected to the arm 99 by the uppermost hole shown in Fig. 1, the maximum movement will be imparted to the cam 94 which will bring one of the notches 95 in the cam beneath the lifting rod 91 at every second throw of the lever or in other Words, at every second downward movement of the impression head. When the link is connected with the intermediate hole of arm 99 it requires three operations of the reciprocating rod 2 to bring the depression of the cam beneath the lifting rod, and when the link is connected with the lowermost opening four actions of t he impression head are required before the lifting rod 91 will be lowered to bring the lowermost plate into range of the plate feeder.

It will be noticed that. the mechanism described is arranged independent of the feed or shuttle bar and can be adjusted to secure the desired results without making any change or dismounting the plate feed mech-' anism.

Having thus fully described myfinvenclaim is: i i

. 1. In combination, with impression means, .a table, a hopperfor record plates, a feeder for moving the record plates step by step and along the table, means for automatically spacing the record plates onthe feeder by preventing the feeder at certain times from engaging the record plates, to move the same, said automatic spacing means being adjustable within itself to space the plates apart dilferent distances according to the character of the form to be printed, substantially as described.

2. In combination, with impression means, a table, a hopper for record plates, a feeder for-moving the record plates step by step along the table, and means for automatically. spacing the record plates on the feeder by preventing the feeder at certain times from engaging the record plates, said automatic spacin g means being driventhrough connec-f tions independent of the feeder, said connections beingadjustable. to space the plates area-tee apart different distances, substantially as described.

3. In combination, impression means, a table, a hopper, feed means for moving said record plates along the table, a lifter for lifting the pile of record plates to prevent them from being taken by the feeder, and adjustable mechanism for driving said lifter to make it lift the plates at various intervals sto vary the spacing between the plates on giving the pawl'a greater or less throw to operate the lifter through the rotary member at greater or lesser intervals to secure greater or lesser spacing of the plates on the feeder, substantially as described.

5. In combination, impression means, a hopper, a table, a feeder for moving the rec- 0rd plates along the table, a lifter for the record plates at the hopper toprevent their engagement with the feeder, a rotarymember for operating the lifter and means for giving variable movement to the rotary member to vary the intervals'of the lifting action and thus vary the spacing of theplates on the feeder, substantially as described.

6. In combination, impression means, a

table, a hopper, a reciprocating shuttle bar having feed dogs, means for automatically spacing the record plates on said shuttle bar by preventing engagement of the shuttle bar therewith at certain times and means independent of the shuttle bar for operating said automatic means, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE LUTHER HENDERSON.

Witnesses:

OBT. G GRISWOLD, C..C; PARIS. 

